BSG: Those Who Stand
by Karogas
Summary: Battlestar Group 32 arrives on the eve of the Cylon attack, can one man and his Outcast Crew's hated and sidelined by the Admiralty and current Administration make a difference? Will they Rise? Or Fall with the rest of the Colonies.
1. Chapter 1: What Makes a Man

_The Cylons were created by Man. _

_They were created to make life easier on the Twelve Colonies. _

_And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters. _

_After a long and bloody struggle, an armistice was declared. _

_The Cylons left for another world to call their own. _

_A remote space station was built... _

_Where Cylon and human could meet and maintain diplomatic relations. _

_Every year, the Colonials send an officer... _

_The Cylons send no one. _

_No-one has seen or heard from the Cylons in over forty years... _

--Opening text of the _Battlestar Galactica_ Miniseries

**BSG : Those who Stand**

**Chapter 1: What Makes a Man?**

**40 Days before Cylon Genocide**

The Battlestar Poseidon and her escorts glided through space, they were on route to their newest objective, a Pirate base that had been plaguing the outer space lanes of Aerilon for nearly six months. The Poseidon was part of Battlestar Group 32 consisting of the Nyx and Ceto a Mercury and Mars class Battlestars respectively, the group also contained a single Destroyer Styx, named after the Goddess of the Underworld and two Patrolstars which were considered by the majority in the military little more than glorified Gunboats.

Admiral Joseph Daniels pounded down the stairs and corridors of his flagship Poseidon on his morning jog, exchanges pleasantries as he went a hello here and nod there. He had been thinking heavily on his upcoming mission, despite the seemingly straight forwardness of his orders there were underlying motives for this particular mission. Officially he was to break the pirates as a fighting force capture or destroy their ships and station; but unofficially the Admiralty wanted them all dead, they were fed up of the continuous pirate operations in the Cyrannus Sector or more importantly the twelve colonies of Kobol. They wanted an example made and if it by chance blew up in their face he was the perfect scapegoat, yes he could describe the situation as well and truly … fracked!

He was quite nearly universally hated by both the current Adar administration and the Admiralty due to a string of difference actions, normally under such a situation he would have been demoted or discharged by now but unfortunately for his opponents he had one rather major ace in his sleeve, his actions were surprisingly popular. Although deeply unpopular amongst both the government and military he followed one core belief 'the Military protects the people', and he was honored for it amongst the general population. This shielded him somewhat from the usual backstabbing the ass kissing amongst the higher echelons of the politicians and their military supporters. Unfortunately despite the fact they couldn't get rid of him they did the next best thing he was shunted off and for the most part forgotten about. He was of course in command of a full Battlestar Group as his station dictated and given one of the most powerful warships in the fleet as his flagship but the colonial military seemed to use his Battle Group as a dumping ground for the outcasts of the colonial fleet. This included a fairly wide range of personalities from those with a general dislike of rules and authority figures best illustrated by Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace's time spent aboard the Poseidon before her transfer to Galactica, to those follow the rules too much or even worse in current governments view the ones who stick rigidly to their principles, again illustrated with Major Lee 'Apollo' Adama's time spent as CAG of Ceto.

Despite the less than stellar recruitment for Battlestar Group 32 Admiral Daniels was quite pleased with the general attitude among his Battle Group they worked together well, and importantly they left their disagreements, dislike and hatred at the door when their shift started, and ensured they were professional when it was required. For their part his crews truly respected him for his principles and his continuation to stick to them despite his state as a pariah of the colonial fleet, the fact that he allowed them as a whole a great deal of leeway as long as when the situation did not require it and they in turn understood and conformed to those rules. He had taken to viewing them almost as his children and was determined ensured they were protected from the usual corruption and personal vendettas that seemed to infest the Colonial Military these days.

Currently though as he jogged through the corridors, he was remembering the tense meeting just over a month ago with Admiral Corman.

_**Flashback**_

The two Admirals stared at one another for several seconds in the Admiral's office aboard the Scorpion Fleet Shipyard, the mutual dislike and distrust almost palatable in the air.

Admiral Corman was first to break eye contact and initiate what was likely a difficult conversation.

'Admiral Daniels you certainly took your time' he snidely began, and then continued without giving his opposite number time to reply

'I am to relay these orders directly from Admiral Nagala and the President Adar of the Colonies of Kobol'

Daniels stiffened at that, 'orders directly from the top weren't usually good for him or his crews' he was getting the distinct impression from Cormans small smile that this was going to be really bad.

'You are herby ordered to take Battlestar Group 32 and stop the continued pirate raids upon Aerilon and its surrounding space, you are to capture or destroy their vessels and remove their base of operations, as a direct order from the President you cannot refuse this order' he began.

Daniels first thought was that it wasn't that bad it sounded like a routine pirate operation but before he could voice any questions Admiral Corman started to talk again.

'You will be operating under silent running during the operation and are to have no contact with the fleet or anyone else in the colonies until ordered otherwise or the completion of your mission'. Now that was unusual Daniels thought but not unheard of it usually meant that the Admiralty thought the pirates had contacts within the government and would get wind of the operation and simply go to ground until they were recalled.

'Those are your orders officially, unofficially you are to exterminate them' Corman ended with a hard glint in his eyes

'We have tolerated these Pirates attacks within the Colonies for far too long, and YOU Admiral Daniels will set an example that this will not go on any longer, you are to kill every last one of them!'

Blinking in shock Daniels couldn't believe the extreme measures the Admiralty wanted.

'Sir with all due respect, there are often women and children aboard Pirate bases that have very little to do with the pirates themselves let alone the activities they carry out, you cannot be seriously asking me to eliminate them as well. I could understand the order if the pirates had been particularly blood thirsty around Aerilon but from the reports they have mostly simply hijacked the ships and cargo and let the crews free'.

'ENOUGH ADMIRAL DANIELS, those are DIRECT orders from the President and Commander in Chief of the Colonial Fleet, you have your orders and YOU will carry them out to their exact letter. Your Battle Groups standard maintenance and CNP updates are to be put on hold until your mission is completed DISMISSED'.

Daniels stiffened again and snapped off a crisp salute, he had recognised Cormans tone and the look in his eye the Admiralty and Administration intended for him to fail or protest too loudly, they would have then come down on him like a ton of bricks. 'Bastard's' he thought they had been looking for a way to get rid of him for over a year now ever since that disaster over Aerilon. That fool Adar had the audacity to attempt to use the Military to put down riots on Aerlion rather than negotiate, he had been forced to cripple a Marinestar who had started bombing and landing troops under their orders, and then the subsequent face off of with no less than three Battlestars who also wanted to enforce them.

He had avoided a court marshal when the colonies took him as a hero for what they saw as a stand against a despicable act, but it had caused outright hostility from Adar and his stooges within the Admiralty, Corman and Nagala. Then there was the damned Teachers strike last week and yet another face off this time with Admiral Cain and the Pegasus when she decided it was best to stop the strike with force, he had no idea what the damned women or the rest of the military had been thinking, they were becoming increasingly militant, to the extent that they seemed at least to him to be actively provoking the Cylons now. He had never been that popular before mainly due to his principles but these days the majority response seemed to be outright hostility and it seemed to be filtering down from the Admiralty to the Commanders and the rest of the enlisted personnel his name seemed to be less than mud these days.

This seemingly, was their new plan for his removal, he was too eliminate them all if he refused he would be court marshaled for insubordination and if he succeeded the backlash would be squarely against him.

'Well this is Fracked' was his last thought as he turned to leave it would certainly require some serious consideration.

_**End Flashback**_

They were already a month out of the Scorpion Shipyards and although they were reasonably close to the colonies and Aerilon when compared to some of the usual deployments, they were still around a week out from the major installations. All they had found of the Pirates were a handful of freighters with their cargo stripped, it was certainly beginning to annoy him, well mabe it was time to try something new.

He strode into the CIC nodding to the Marines salutes as he entered,

'Commander Edwards' he barked 'I want a list of all current Civilian traffic in the area'

Lisa Edwards was the XO aboard Poseidon and had they had served together for nearly their entire carriers, whether it was in a viper squadron together or serving among the command staff itself.

'Yes Sir' was the quick response before she bent over the DRADIS screen and started comparing it to her civilian manifest,

'There are currently three Gemenon freighters in a convoy on their way to Aerlion, a medical frigate bound for Scorpia and four separate Passenger liners, one also bound for Aerlion and the other three on course for Caprica' was the prompt response

'It's time for a change in plans Lisa were going to have the Battlestar Group split up, each of the ships will shadow either the convoy or and passenger liners and hope the pirates take the bait we know their base is in the nearby nebula but it's simply too large to keep searching piece meal like we have, if we can disable or destroy their ships we should be able to blockade the station and force it to reveal itself or even find the location from the records on one of their ships or crews'.

Understanding dawned in her eyes and she nodded eagerly 'Certainly beats looking for the needle in the haystack approach and arriving late all the time'

Daniels grinned at her 'Certainly does let's just hope they fall for it'

* * *

**31 Days before Cylon Genocide**

For nine days the Poseidon had drifted behind the convoy, not even they were aware of it as it shadowed their every move. The Poseidon was the true God of the Sea or in this case Space. She was an _Illustrious_ class Battlestar effectively a slight bigger meaner Mercury, there were currently only five in the fleet all acting as the flagships of various Admirals, it contained an improved field of flack fire over the standard ships of line and the ability to launch a whole extra wing of Colonial Mk VII Viper's.

As she drifted space seemed to rip and distort slightly as in three separate blinding flashes of light signaled the arrival of Poseidon's prey.

'DRADIS CONTACTS' came the shout from one of the officers over the DRAIDS

'Bearing towards the convoy, ID codes identify as the three Destroyers Ophion, Leto and Metis all are reported to have been decommissioned and used for scrap' came the surprised reply from Commander Edwards.

Daniels winced at that, this was going to be troublesome not only did he have to face down three Destroyers rather than the usual bog standard Pirate frigates but he was going to have to report to the administration and Admiralty that several people in either the military or government was heavily involved with the pirate's, three Destroyers did not simply disappear that easily.

Now though he had a choice to make, should he follow his orders and wipe them out or conduct this operation like his usual pirate fights. 'FRACK them' he thought 'I've lived by my convictions for close to forty years I'm not about to stop now if they want to go round exterminating people they can do it themselves and try live with it'

'Send Hostile Challenge and demand their surrender' he replied as he stared down at the DRAIDS screen.

'Launch Vipers, acquire targeting solutions, try to aim to cripple rather than destroy them, aim to present the initial shot from the forward guns then shift to allow our stronger flak fields on the side to engage the potential counter'

'Sir no response from the Destroyers, the Leto and Metis are moving towards us the Ophion meanwhile seems to be attempting to escape'

Daniels frowned at that, that wouldn't do he needed to remove all their ships if a blockade was to be successful 'Order Ceto, Styx and their accompanying Patrolstars to begin the blockade on the Base send them our position it should give them a rough area from where the pirates must have launched their attack from within the nebula. They are to engage any vessel attempting to enter or leave and capture them if possible, have the Nyx join us here and engage the retreating Destroyer we can't have them escaping it would damage our blockade'

Turning his attention back to screen he watched as his viper's closed on the Destroyers, his XO seemed puzzled.

'What are they doing they can't possibly stand up to us in only two outdated Destroyers, with three they might have a slight chance but the vipers plus us will cut them to pieces.'

Admiral Daniels shrugged 'Their Pirates not soldiers they have no real idea of the capability of new top of the line military hardware'

'Sir Destroyers are opening fire upon the viper squadrons!' the Conn officer Lieutenant Hoshi informed him

'Right that's it then all Vipers are now weapons free attempt to disable rather than destroy, have them use hit and run attacks make them expend their ammunition it should demoralize them quicker if there shooting and not hitting anything, Main Guns target their engines first'

Daniels listened absently as his orders were confirmed the two Destroyers out there were no real threat, the vipers alone should be able to overwhelm them easily enough, they could simply sprint into weapons range and then fall back out again before they could acquire a full target lock, his Wolf packs as they had become to be known as amongst the military were especially effective at that tactic. He needed to finish this quickly though before they could spool up their FTL drives and vanish again, three even admittedly outdated Destroyers were simply too dangerous to civilian traffic and even potentially posed a threat to the military convoys they were after all only usually escorted by a couple of Patrolstars.

'We are in range opening fire now' came the response from his XO, 'Clean hit! Directly through her engine, Metis is drifting she's still got her guns but she's dead in the water'

'Excellent Lieutenant Hoshi demand there surrender again remind them we can blow them away easily with a nuke if they still refuse, have the vipers concentrate on Leto she's using Metis for cover from us now', Ruthless thought the Admiral but then again the Colonial Military did have a habit of destroying pirate ships outright rather than taking them prisoner they obviously realised they'd bitten off more than they could chew and intended to use their comrades ship as cover as they withdrew'.

'Metis is surrendering Sir, but still no response from Leto, wait, Sir were intercepting communication between the two Leto seems to be demanding the Metis cover them while they escape'

Daniels grimaced at that, he really didn't want to have to shoot through the Metis to prevent Leto's escape but he'd have no choice if the Metis choose to carry on,

'Have we not got a firing solution on the Leto yet?' he asked

'Two minutes then we'll be past Metis, longer if she chooses to cover her partner' replied Lisa

'DAMN that would be too long' was his first thought they couldn't be too far from having their FTL spooled up again

'Receiving transmission from Nyx the Ophion surrendered straight away, it's not going anywhere there beginning to launch borders now'

Some good news at least but how to deal with Leto, 'no choice' thought Daniels, 'Have the vipers take out Leto's engines'

'They won't be as accurate as us, the amount of rounds they'd have to put into her in such a short time period could easily set off secondary explosions in that area' Replied Lisa

'I know but we have no choice she'll escape otherwise, do it'

'Yes Sir', 'Tell the fighters to disable her engines' Commander Edwards relayed the orders

The CIC crew watched in concern as two of the Vipers were caught in Leto's firing solution and destroyed, the attack run was successful though and the Leto also began to list to the side. The collective sigh of relief in CIC quickly turned to horror as secondary explosions began to go off along the ship.

Commander Edwards was the quickest to recover grabbing the nearby radio and screaming at the Vipers to break off as the Leto went up in brilliant explosion.

Admiral Joseph Daniels closed his eyes in pain, 'what a waste he thought' he listened absently as Commander Edwards relayed the post battle report.

'Ceto and her escorts have begun the blockade of the base, Ophion has surrendered and Metis is crippled, we have launched marines to take the remaining pirates into custody, we have also launched raptors to begin recovery operations with the Leto hopefully some will have survived.'

'How many did we lose?' was the Admirals response

'Nyx didn't lose anyone they barely got a chance to launch their vipers, the opposing pirate Commander surrendered he obviously has some past military experience and realised how badly outmatched he was by our Battlestar. We lost three Vipers, two of which the pilots successfully ejected and are being recovered now, another two of our birds took damage but have managed to bring themselves home'.

'Who did we lose?'

'It was Hair Trigger Sir'.

Alex 'Hair Trigger' Jones, known for his trigger happy fingers yet another man lost.

'Have our usual funeral prepared have the crew attend like always I'll write a letter to his family'.

'Are you sure you don't want me to do it Joseph?'

'No they'd most likely appreciate it off me more Lisa; I was in command during this last mission.'

* * *

**30 Days before Cylon Genocide**

Admiral Daniels and those of the Crew of the Poseidon not needed in the immediate running of the ship stood to attention as the priest continued the funeral rights for 'Hair Trigger'.

He grimaced as he watched several of the younger pilots holding back tears; the death of one of your friends or crewmates was never easy.

He watched the priest finish up and was immediately reminded how pointless every death seemed 'such a waste', 'such a needless waste'. He had always been a more practical man than religious and he had found little he could agree with in the so called Sacred Scrolls, and certainly not enough to satisfy him in the priest's funeral rights. It had been little to him compared to the memories and words his fellow friends and pilots had said in their eulogies beforehand, they knew the man, not some nameless drivel rearranged and repeated at everyone's death.

Striding up to podium he began his own,

'When I first read the report on Alex, the first thought that accord to me was good Lords no wonder he was given to us'.

That brought some slight smiles to many faces they were after all family here, they all had their individual problems with the mainstream and most considered outcasts to higher or lesser degree and it was always relieving for many to know they weren't alone in that regard.

'Then I met the man and the I was struck by how down he was, he was truly ashamed of his mistake that almost killed his wing mate, I was also struck by how inexperienced and young he seemed at that moment but I also I saw his potential. With us he flourished he grew to be a fine man and pilot who brought honor to not just us but himself as well. His mistake that he was abhorred for could have happened to any one of us, but not many could have overcome such a thing and continue to grow like he did'.

'Never let what others say cloud your view of the man, you knew the Real 'Hair Trigger'! And we Honor him for it, Never Forget Him!' Admiral Daniels finished to slight smiles.

Rejoining his crew he saluted with the rest of them as Alex's body slowly left the Poseidon and drifted away on its eternal voyage.

* * *

**14 Days before Cylon Genocide**

Two weeks they sat outside of Nebula waiting, Admiral Daniels saw little point in ferrying the Pirates back piece meal he was after all supposed to be operating under Silent running and going back to get screamed at for letting any live did not appeal to him. He was currently planning to bring them all back at the same time and hopefully distract the Admiralty with the fact they had three Destroyers that were supposedly decommissioned. That would almost certainly cause uproar; the decommissioned ships were after all stored at a 'Secret' and 'Safe' location.

It had taken two weeks of interrogation for the pirate Commander of Ophion to give up the base, Metis's commander seemed to have a deep hatred of the Colonial fleet and had refused to say a word while Leto's had gone down with his ship. It was ultimately the threat of leaving his family and friends to starve aboard the station due to the blockade that had caused him to fold; now they had the exact co-ordinates and rough idea of its defenses.

In the Command Officer aboard Poseidon Admiral Daniels and Commander Edwards went over the final details of the plan with the Commanders from the other ships in the Battlestar Group.

Commander Meagan Ryan was the Commander of the Mercury Class Battlestar Nyx at 35 she was one of the younger Commanders in the colonial fleet and had previously served as XO of the Nyx before her former Commanders retirement, she was fiercely loyal to Admiral Daniels for the trouble he went to keep her within his Battlestar Group despite numerous attempts by the Admiralty to derail her career, no small feat considering how she spit in Admiral Von Krace's face after he attempted to grope her. Von Krace seemed to have made it his life's mission to make things as hard as he could for her and it was only after her transfer to 'That Outcast Daniels' Battlestar Group that things had improved for her.

Commander Richard Belter meanwhile was considered a relic from the initial war with the Cylons at 57 years old. He had voiced his warnings of the continued integration of computer systems and stood by his principles slightly louder than was perhaps wise, too young at the time to be forcibly retired without it seemingly being obviously; politically motivated he was instead transferred to Daniels command. After which he had been subsequently ignored and isolated, he too had a deep respect for Admiral Daniels and his principles. Belter Commanded the Mars Class Battlestar Ceto, the Mars class was a direct precursor to the Mercury but lacking as many forward guns and the viper manufacturing ability, despite this it along with the Mercury made up the main front line forces of the current Colonial Military.

The Four Officers were currently going over the plan for the Pirate base assault; Admiral Daniels had come up with and he had been asking what they thought.

'Seems to me like a good idea they should be too shocked by our sudden appearance and the fact they will be so completely surrounded' agreed Belter

'Yes even if they do resist we can simply destroy their ships that are docked and simply retreat out of range and wait them out again, we are in no particular rush with this mission, President Adar and Admiral Nagala gave me no significant timetable to adhere to, they simply wanted the mission completed'. Nodded Daniels

'I see no problems with the initial plan a simply show of force should be enough to subdue them their pirates not fanatics they'll see a no win situation and surrender, but if they don't I agree we should simply wait them out there's no one coming to save them and it will prevent needless loss of life on both sides.' Commander Ryan added

'Well then the plan is agreed the Poseidon will drop out directly in front of the station while Nyx and Ceto will take up positions either side and we'll use both Patrolstars and the Styx to block off the only other avenue of escape, we have the exact location confirmed by raptor reconnaissance we'll drop out as close as we can onto the station. It's been two weeks since there Destroyers have disappeared they won't have stayed on alert that long, they must be thinking the Destroyers didn't give them away and they are simply playing 'dead' for the time being. If we shock them enough and effectively catch them napping them should realise how badly outmaneuvered they are and surrender. If they don't we'll simply destroy any ships docked at the station then move out of range and wait them out we know they are already low on water and that they were due to make a water run after the Destroyers returned and we know no ships have left the nebula so we can guarantee they haven't done so yet.'

'Right distribute the plan out to your XO's the operation is to begin in one hour dismissed'.

The Commanders quickly stood to attention and saluted before leaving and making their way back to their respective Commands.

After finalising the after action plans and details Daniels and Edwards made their own way onto Poseidon's CIC and began distributing orders in preparation for the FTL jump.

'Lieutenant Hoshi begin to spool up the FTL, set condition one on the ship'

Picking up the Conn Daniels began to speak

'This is the Admiral speaking'

'In just under five minutes we will be commencing an FTL jump and subsequent attack on the Pirate base located within the nearby Nebula, despite what you may have been led to believe there are innocent people aboard that station including families and children, it is not filled completely with bloodthirsty pirates. As such we will give them every opportunity to surrender and will not open fire directly upon the station unless given no choice'.

'You are all seasoned professionals and I have the utmost confidence that you will carry out your duties to the best of your ability, I am proud to call each and every one of you a member of my crew,'

Ending the communication he talked directly to his XO

'Signal the Battlestar Group to begin FTL jump countdown' he ordered

Lieutenant Hoshi began to count down from her station

'FTL jump in 10'

'9'

'8' the buzz of the usual activity seemed to cease all around the ship,

'7'

'6'

'5' a slight rumbling began to build within the ship itself,

'4'

'3' space around them seemed to begin to distort as the FTL jump began to take place,

'2'

'1' a brilliant Flash of light was the signal of the completed jump.

* * *

There had been unrestrained tension aboard Pirate Station Eris, ever since the failed check in of their three Destroyers, initially it was assumed the crews of the freighters had put up a fight or attempted to flee, and this was had caused their lateness but as the hours and then days ticked by it soon became apparent that something was wrong.

Seth Brakis commander of Eris cursed yet again, there was still no word at all from his missing Destroyers he had prevented anyone leaving and potentially giving their location away, it was obvious to him either all the Destroyer crews had decided to cut their losses and bugged out while they were ahead. Which happening all at the same time, with no one else knowing would be remarkably unlikely or the Colonial military had finally had enough and dispatched some units to deal with them, and the Destroyers had run afoul of them and lost. Initially he had this base on high alert for the past week believing they would no doubt be coming for them soon, Pirates were after all not the most reliable lot in keeping secrets while caught, luckily it was only the Commanders who had knowledge of the exact location so he hoped the military just knew he was here rather than their location.

Unfortunately he was running low on water and he could not play dead for whatever was outside the nebula much longer or they would all end up really dead. There had also been unconfirmed reports of raptor sightings over the last couple of days but he had snorted when listening to the accounts first hand, they hadn't seen raptors they'd seen movement out of the corner of their eye while on sentry duty, he had put it down to cabin fever and growing stain due to their missing ships.

His Lieutenant, Vorn stood across from him as they discussed their options

'We're gonna have to send the water transport out soon, even if it's unguarded we simply don't have a choice anymore Seth' Vorn argued

'No, we know the military is out there but they most likely only know are general location, we need to play dead as long as possible hopefully they'll write us off as an unconfirmed rumor, it's taken the them six months to begin to track us down initially there obviously stretched thin at the moment, they can't possibly be able to stick around this far out from the colonies for too long.' Was the response from Brakis

'Being caught is better than dying though' Vorn gruffly replied,

'Bah were not gonna die we've got three weeks worth of water left and it's a two week round trip to the nearest water supply and back we can wait another half a week, two and half weeks should be long enough for them to move on they can't sit out there forever they'll be needed elsewhere'. Brakis grinned now that he thought about it his contacts with military had said that despite the size of the Colonial Fleet they disliked deploying for extended periods of time especially for something as insignificant as a rumored pirate outpost.

The higher ups had no idea just how big his 'Outpost' had grown neither did his contacts the bits and pieces he 'acquired' from them separately was just enough to keep a small base running but when combined together allowed him a pretty well established base he even had a couple of docks capable of storing Battlestars! They were of course wasted on his three Destroyers but Seth had plans, big plans he had heard rumors of the military storing decommissioned Battlestars in secret locations just like how his contacts had led him to the Destroyers, they had just been sitting there gathering dust, in case of the Cylons ever coming back. If he could get just one of those Battlestars he could force the other nearby pirates into submission, he couldn't use it on raids though if the military ever got word of a pirate Battlestar they'd hunt him down like a dog probably sending a couple of Battlestar Groups out just to get rid of him, no defiantly not, BUT it would guarantee his ascension among the pirates!

Turning his attention back on his Lieutenant he again reassured him that he would send the water boat out in half a week.

'Don't worry we'll be fine' he grinned

Walking towards the CIC of Eris he was suddenly assaulted by a barrage from the old alarm system indicating that a ship or ships had just jumped nearby. He scrambled down the passage way charging into the command centre to a scene of Chaos.

There were people shouting everywhere, others white faced with shock and predominantly the place stunk of fear. Brakis attempted to shout over them to no avail finally he drew out his gun and put two bullets into the roof causing a sudden forbidding silence

'WHAT THE FRACK IS GOING ON' he screamed at them

'It's a Fracking Battle group, a WHOLE fracking Battlestar Group, they just jumped right on top of us, we're completely surrounded' was the response by one of the people near the old DRAIDS display.

'OH frack it's the Poseidon' another voice sounded up as one of the ships was identified

Seth was stunned there was no way they could have found them and to send a whole Battlestar Group, just for his current measly attacks! They'd even sent one of the monsters of the Colonial fleet after him the Poseidon herself. He'd deliberately low keyed his pirate activities so as to not draw attention, not invoke the wrath of the Colonial Military.

His stunned silence could only continue as strong deep voice spoke up from the communication bay

'This is Admiral Joseph Daniels in command of Battlestar Group 32, we demand your immediate surrender or we will be forced to open fire'.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Right just a short note; this is my first attempt at a fan fiction so any constructive feedback would be appreciated

There might be slight references to some of to other fan fictions of this type that I particularly liked and its just my way of honoring them slightly if you don't like it simply send a message to me and i'll remove or change that part, the most obvious example in this one is the Illustrious class, coming from Wes Imlay's Battlestar Victorious Series which i would recommend to anyone,

Another is the Mars class although i can't quite remember who did that name first but i liked both of them and they seem to fit in with the bog standard Mercury, Galactica and Valkyrie classes (there's no way the Colonial Fleet only has three types of ships).


	2. Chapter 2: Diplomacy and Negotiations

**Chapter 2: Diplomacy and Negotiations**

**14 Days before Cylon Genocide**

**Posideon Unanmed Nebula**

Noise within CIC was deceptively quiet as the crew collectively held its breath; they were waiting for the response from the unknown pirate Commander, after a momentary pause though a strong but slightly nervous voice spoke up over the wireless.

'This is Seth Brakis, the current Commander of Base Eris, I will agree to a temporary cease fire and potential conditional surrender, it's obvious you have us seriously out gunned' the last part was spoken with an unmistakable bitter tinge but the voice still continued.

'Do you wish to come aboard for negotiations? Or will you permit a landing craft to come to the Poseidon?' it finished.

Admiral Daniels and much of the CIC staff let out quiet sighs of relief at that most had been hoping to have avoid a dangerous fire fight and possible siege.

Turning slightly Daniels whispered to his XO Lisa.

'I told you it would work!' this succeeded in electing a slight smile from her in return; before he responded to the message.

'Inform them to hold while we discuss their proposal Lieutenant Hoshi' replied Daniels.

Grinning now at Lisa he proceeded to ask.

'What do you think we should do? Personally I think It would be safer to go aboard the station and simply take a group of Marines; I'd rather not have a potentially hostile craft docking on the Poseidon who knows what they could do with a ship in close proximity'.

'You have a point it's an unneeded risk it would be suicide to try anything while your aboard it would simply provoke us into destroying the station, they know standard fleet regulations regarding taking officer's captive.' She responded ruefully thinking over the Government policy of non-negotiation with Pirates or Terrorists.

Nodding Daniels turned to Poseidon's Master at Arms, Sergeant Thomas Lias who commanded her on-board marine detachment.

'Sergeant Lias, prepare six marines to accompany me for negotiations, have them meet me in the Starboard flight deck in twenty minutes'.

Lias for his part saluted before turning to leave the CIC, Daniels simply picked up the Conn and then asked the Conn officer Hoshi, 're-establish communication with Mr Brakis'.

'This is Poseidon Actual to Eris Actual, Admiral Daniels would like to speak to Mr Brakis' Hoshi began

'Poseidon Actual this is Brakis'

'Mr Brakis this is Admiral Daniels, I will personally be coming aboard to discuss the terms of your surrender. To this end I will be taking a Raptor with Viper escort and six marine guards, any hostile action on either the space craft or upon myself and my escorts while aboard will be viewed as a breach of our cease fire agreement. My Commanders will be under orders open fire upon the station should such a thing occur is this understood?'

'I understand you perfectly Admiral when can I expect you aboard?' was the response to his declaration.

'I'll be departing in a Raptor in twenty minutes is that acceptable?'

'That's fine, we'll roll out the red carpet' the sarcastic voice of Brakis replied.

Despite himself Daniels couldn't help but chuckle, drawing an amused glance from Edwards and responded slightly drying 'I'm sure you will, Poseidon Out'.

Lisa shoot her head slightly at his chuckles he was insufferable at times, she straightened and asked,

'You're Orders Sir?'

Still grinning Daniels responded 'Prepare a Raptor and two Viper escorts Commander, you will take Command of the Poseidon and accompanying Battle Group while I am in the Station, should negotiations fail you are to stick to regulations and open fire on the ships and the station.'

'Are you sure Sir? There's going to be a lot of people on a station that size remember' asked his XO

'We've held back as much as we can, should they abduct an Admiral and we still refuse to open fire on that station, the Admiralty would pitch a fit and hang us out to dry when we return,' explained Daniels. 'You have the Ship, keep her warm for me' he ordered as he left CIC.

'Yes Sir' acknowledged Commander Edwards before frowning and whispering, 'Stay safe' at his retreating back.

* * *

Sergeant Thomas Lias was not happy, he couldn't quite believe the Admiral was being so reckless with his safety, by going over to a station packed with potentially hundred's of pirates and only taking six marines. Admittedly they would have to be close to suicidal to do it, with so much Colonial firepower parked on their doorstep but it only took a couple of idiots, 'Its madness' he thought.

To his frustration he could see the Admirals reasoning though. To conduct such a mission safely he would have had to take Poseidon's entire Marine detachment over and probably portions of the detachments on the accompanying Battlestar's as well, something the Admiral would no doubt shoot down, claiming it would be unfeasible and viewed as a hostile act.

Lias didn't care though he was a Solider not a diplomat it was the Admirals unfortunate job to deal with all that rubbish and he actually liked his Commanding Officer, a rarity in itself. He had no intention of losing him anytime soon, especially considering what the rest of the crew would do to him if the Admiral was lost under his supervision.

After thinking this over on the way to the marine barracks, Lias had come to one simple conclusion the only way he was going to be happy was if he went himself, that way he would at least be there if something bad happened and if it did surrounded by all those pirates … well he probably wouldn't be around to take the flack for it from everyone else!

'Genius' he thought, grinning to himself he set off down the corridor to pick out five more poor saps that were going to have to come with him.

* * *

Ramon 'Outcast' Carras was a Major and Viper pilot in the Colonial Fleet, he had always been somewhat of a loner despite is excellent results and initially things had not improved when he decided to join the Colonial Fleet. It had become somewhat of a constant and when he had been transferred to Battlestar Group 32 he had initially expected the same thing. It had come as a rather rude shock, when one month into his new posting he was called to see the Admiral personally. He later found out this was not that unusual and that the Admiral seemed to go out of his way to personally get to know all his crew to some degree, it seemed he had been no exception. They had continued to meet and talk regularly over the next couple of months and before he knew it he had been posted to BSG 32 for a full 6 months, he had slowly become more and more comfortable in the Admirals presence a somewhat far cry from the initial nervousness. Admiral Daniels had even begun to talk with him about his own day's, flying Vipers and talking about general squadron tactics with him.

When the Original CAG of Poseidon had left he was somewhat surprised to be called into his office almost straight afterward, he had assumed it would be another of their usual meetings but he had quickly realised that this one was going to be different when he noticed Commander Edwards was also present. Admiral Daniels had given him a war-game simulation where he commanded several squadron's of Vipers while the Commander sat in the background and watched. After outlining his plan a very confused Carras had been asked to stand outside, when called back in it was too stunned disbelief when Admiral Daniels and Commander Edwards congratulated him, promptly promoted him to Major and informed him he was now acting CAG of Poseidon.

It was to his eternal embarrassment that his first response had been 'But … but, I'm the Outcast', It was after all his call sign, the Admiral had simply laughed and told him he'd do fine. He could have sworn he heard him and Commander Edwards's laughter through the bulkhead after he'd left but they'd never brought it up afterward thankfully.

The other Viper Pilots had been as surprised as him initially but instead of being resentful as he had expected, they had instead had accepted and congratulated him before promptly telling him there wasn't anyone more competent that they'd rather have do it.

That had been nearly two years ago now and he'd loved every minute of being Poseidon's CAG, he found it immeasurably gratifying watching the new pilots grow underneath his guidance, and the friendships he had forged while being forced to interact more with people. He had even turned down a promotion to Colonel, he'd told a horrified Review board who'd believed they were offering him an escape from the dreaded Admiral Daniels and a new Springboard for his career that he'd found his niche and he was sticking to it.

Standing at the podium in the Pilot briefing room watching his fellow pilot's antics he couldn't help but wonder that mabe he should have taken that promotion after all.

Smiling at the thought he shouted out, 'Quiet Down you lot'.

Immediately the antics seemed to freeze in place and sheepishly they took their seats.

'Admiral Daniels is to travel over to the station with six of the ground pounders in ten minutes; he'll be using 'Tanks' and 'Watchman's' Raptor,' Carras began. 'Should anything bad happen you are to bug out immediately I'm sure the Admiral would agree, there's no need to risk more lives over there than necessary.'

'Bombshell' and 'Dogs' will be flying escort for the Admiral, while Wolfpack provides CAP, the rest of you will be on combat alert until the Admiral returns, so make sure you're not doing anything you can't put down immediately if the situation takes a downturn, DISMISSED.'

Joining his Wolfpack Carras made his way towards the flight pod, the Wolfpack were a relatively new Viper squadron in the Colonial fleet and Carras had been assigned to it when he initially transferred here. Most of the established squadrons went all the way back to the First Cylon war but Wolfpack was nowhere near that sort of age, it was established as a gift for Daniels promotion to Admiral and was to serve as his prime Viper squadron for the rest of his career. Despite its youth it had become rapidly respected due to the swath it had cut through both Pirates and during the regular war games with the rest of the fleet, several Commanders were reported to have a constant eye on the squadron with the idea of transferring it to their own ships, when Admiral Daniels eventually retired though Carras hoped that it would be a long time yet.

'Provided he didn't get himself killed on the base' Carras thought as he strode towards his own Viper.

* * *

Viper 431 flew out of the starboard flight pod at speed; it was quickly flanked by a pair of Mk VII Viper's before banking towards the Pirate Base that seemed to dominate the immediate area.

Daniels whistled as Pirate Base Eris filled the Raptors view screen, the place was huge! There was no way this was only a pirate base, it would be impossible for so much material to go missing without someone in the Admiralty or Government catching on. That unfortunately presented a whole new problem; it was becoming increasingly likely that he was out here cleaning up the Admiralty and Governments unwanted dirty mess which was never a good thing.

Daniels couldn't still quite wrap his head around what he was actually seeing; the space docks on the Station actually looked large enough to fit an entire Battlestar and if that wasn't enough there didn't seem to be just a single one either! He decided then and there that he was going to need to have a rather long chat with Nagala and Corman when he got back, they may not like him but hiding an operation this large from him was bordering on illegal. Black operations were all well and good on a small scale but when they got to this sort of size they tended towards being dangerous and somewhat self serving. That brought him to his next question why had they sent him out here? They must have realised he would know something was wrong the minute he saw it, unless they simply didn't care or mabe they were unaware of its true scale? If they were all involved though … that didn't bare thinking about, if that was true then there would be precious little he could do and if he raised too much of a fuss they'd probably come up with elaborate plan to blame it on him. Still why would they want something as valuable as this place destroyed, especially if they knew it could fit a Battlestar which he could only assume they did, the sheer amount of money and materials required for something like this boggled the mind.

It was perfectly located in Daniels view though, for deep space exploration and as a staging point outside of the Colonies. He had never quite agreed with the isolationist stance of recent Administrations since the Cylon war and the limited scouting they had conducted in the immediate sectors around the Twelve Colonies. It was foolhardy not to have scouted out the local area even if only looking for navigational hazards and potential resources in the event of gods forbid a second Cylon war. It could potentially badly limit any offensive actions of the fleet should such a thing occour or at the very least delay them until proper scouting was carried out.

Then there was the Tylium problem, the Government seemed quite content to leave it to someone else to fix, it was in there view 20 years down the line before the analysts believed the sources in the immediate Colonies would run out and was not an imminent problem. Daniels had always believed in fixing something before it became an issue, who knows what problems they could find down the line that could potentially delay them, and require serious time to fix. That could prove to be potentially fatal to the Colonies if such problems cropped up, Tylium was the Colonies lifeblood after all.

Shaking his head slightly at his off track thoughts, he had negotiations to carry out after all, Daniels spoke to 'Tank' and 'Watchman', the Raptor pilot and his ECO respectively. 'Should things take a turn for the worse 'Tank' I want you to forget about me and my escort and take off back towards Poseidon immediately'.

'Sir are you sure?' was the worried response.

'Yes, it is incredibly unlikely should things go badly, that me and my small escort would be able to get back to the Raptor and it would be far better to have two less hostages or deaths to deal with.' He explained.

'If your sure Sir' 'Tank' nervously replied, the CAG had after all said something similar. But for Gods sake he thought, they were supposed to protect him, he was the commanding officer not the other way around.

'The Admiral's right Lieutenant, that place is huge we could bring Poseidon's entire marine detachment and it wouldn't increase our likelihood of escaping, should things go wrong. The best thing you can do is take off, it would be much easier for you to simply come back for us later, rather than sorting out the mess should you be captured too, sticking around would only worsen any possible situation,' Cut in Sergeant Lias.

They got a resigned nod in reply 'Understood Sirs, good luck'.

'Hopefully we won't need it' replied Daniels sitting back down as the Raptor began docking procedures.

* * *

**Pirate Base Eris**

Seth Brakis watched the Admiral's Raptor dock, he truly despised the Colonial Military, a Sagitaron farmer and former follower of Tom Zarek he believed the fleet to be an instrument of his peoples subjugation. The other Colonies had treated his former people like second class citizens, stealing and conspiring to keep them in their place and here like with his former home, the instrument of that subjugation was here again to take away his dreams, ambitions and his admittedly less than moral livelihood.

There was nothing to be done though, the military force on the stations proverbial doorstep was too large to oppose alone and would only result in needless death and destruction. He could only watch as Pirates and crewmen scurried everywhere while performing their routine maintenance jobs and preparing the deck for the arrival of their 'guests'.

Brakis for his part had forgone a large welcome party and had simply had Vorn and one of his other partners accompany him. Trying anything while the Admiral was aboard would be unquestionably stupid if he wanted anyone on this base to get off it alive and not forced into a transport bound for the nearest labor camp. With any luck this Admiral wouldn't know about some of his more important 'contacts' and those backroom deals the Admiralty and Government had forced him into. He could use that information to hopefully bargain the pardon of the majority of his people and prevent them ending up in prison, mabe he could even get his own sentence substantially cut, the information was certainly important enough.

He was honesty surprised when asked to surrender, although he had fully expected the Admiralty to send people after him when they broke off their deal a month ago. He had believed they didn't have the exact location of his base in the nebula, so when he had seen full Battle Group outside he had half assumed the fleet would simply nuke his station to remove the evidence. Instead he had been asked to his relief to surrender; with any luck this particular Admiral would be clueless to his true reasons for being out here, it was after all his only real hope in the present circumstances.

As the Raptor touched down he motioned to his lieutenants and strode towards the Raptor, observing two marines step out and scan the immediate area of the base before calling out the all clear to the Raptor, two more Marines followed them out and then a Colonial Fleet Officer obviously the Admiral step out, flanked by yet another pair of Marines.

Seth took a moment to take in the supposed Admiral; he was tall with blonde to brown hair and blue eyes, he stood tall and seemed to survey the deck with a piercing stare 'not someone to take lightly' was his first thought. Brakis frowned after that though, there was a difference between the Admiral and most Colonial flag officers he had met so far, he didn't seem to carry himself with the usual arrogance of the Colonial fleet. Then there was the name and appearance, it was vaguely recognisable for some reason he just couldn't put his finger on it. Deciding it was unimportant at the present moment he walked towards the Admiral ignoring the stiffening his marine escort and put his hand forward to shake his hand no reason not to be polite after all.

'Admiral what a delight to have you here, too bad it isn't under more 'pleasant' circumstances' was his initial sarcastic comment, he loved annoying the fleet and was rewarded by growls from a couple of the marines that simply made him grin even more.

The Admiral for his part simply matched his grin and to his slight surprise actually took his hand and shook it before replying.

'A very interesting place you have here seems a bit much for a 'simple' pirate base, but I'm sure I'll get to hear ALL about him hmm?'

Then it struck Brakis and he actually blinked in shock, this was the same Admiral Daniels who had defied orders at the Aerelon riots 'how could he have missed it?' Was his initial thought, it also seemed he had already realised that was far more going on that initially met the eye and where most would be surprised or slightly uncomfortable he seemed to simply take it in his stride.

Getting over his shock slightly Brakis simply replied quietly, 'You have no idea Admiral, if you'd like to follow me we can conduct our negotiations in the room we prepared'.

Not waiting for a response he turned and started walking thinking rapidly, the Admiral seemed initially unaware to how badly the current Administration had been involved here but he seemed to be catching on quickly, but why would they send an un-liked and sidelined Admiral? Last he heard they'd had the Officer involved in those riots stationed on the Cylon border, while making a rather over the top showing of how the 'distinguished' Admiral was protecting them from the Toasters. As he thought about it he came to a rather stunning conclusion and his blood ran cold, he was sent out here to kill them all and he'd simply balked at it. The bastards had tried to kill two birds with one stone, killing him and wiping away most of the evidence of their activities out here while framing Daniels as a renegade Admiral who had taken a simple pirate operation too far, frack he wouldn't put it past them to try and claim he organised all this. Shaking his head at their audacity he turned his thoughts to how he was going to get out of this mess with his hide intact, it was sure going to be one hell of a meeting.

* * *

Daniels sat at the table across from Brakis, both eyeing one another with interest; five of the marines had remained outside to secure the meeting with one of Brakis's lieutenants. Vorn meanwhile had joined Brakis inside while the Admiral had simple had Sergeant Lias accompany him.

Still scrutinizing each other carefully from across the table Brakis was the first to speak up. 'Let's get straight to the point; I have no wish to see everyone here end up in a penal detention centre. Admiral in exchange for you only arresting the command staff, I'm willing to enlighten you as to just how we acquired a station of such a size and what your true mission out here is, which you seem distinctly unaware of. Your past reputation comes across as reasonable man you must know that not everyone here is pirate or criminal'.

Frowning slightly Daniels responded 'I want your Command Staff including yourself of course.' Pausing for a response, he received a strained nod before continuing on, 'I'll also be arresting anyone wanted for crimes in the Colonies and those obviously involved in operations here. The rest I will shuttle back to nearest of the Colonies, while the station itself will be confiscated along with the ships and you're Destroyers. Which by the way I would like to know exactly how they came to be in your possession, they were supposedly safe and secure after all'.

Brakis grimaced slightly so it was true his Destroyers had run into the Fleet. 'I thought that might have been what happened to them, very well I will provide you information as to how we have the Destroyers and such a large base, just who is funding us and the higher ups who authorised such a thing, in return you will only arrest those directly involved with piracy, my command staff and those wanted for outstanding crimes in the Colonies. But I also want safe passage for the rest of the people aboard to be taken back to the colonies under your personal supervision we wouldn't want them to run into any accidents would we.'

'I can agree to those terms'

'Then under those terms I surrender Eris to you Admiral Daniels' Standing up, they settled it with a brief handshake before Brakis sat back down with a weary sigh and asked.

'I'm sure you have quite a few questions Admiral Daniels you seem genuinely uninformed of your true purpose here, otherwise I'm fairly certain this station wouldn't be here anymore'.

Brakis got a level glare before Daniels responded, 'I'm sure your about to enlighten me, it is in your best interests after all, my initial off the record orders were to kill you all.' This received a sharp gasp from Vorn but he was silenced before he could speak up by a glance from Brakis.

'Yes there is certain … evidence and activities that the Government would rather not have known to the public.'

'Hmm my initially assumption was that this was simply a more aggressive stance towards pirates in general by the Admiralty, they've been becoming increasingly militant recently', replied Daniels.

'Quite' interrupted Brakis.

Daniels continued on though ignoring the interruption, 'When we first encountered your Destroyers I was understandably alarmed, they were supposedly secure and that was my first clue towards something not being completely right. Then there's this station, it is impressive by the way', he received a slight grin to that.

'There is no way something of this size exists without the higher ups at least knowing something about it, I can only assume I'm here cleaning up someone's black operation, that they want removed rather than becoming public knowledge. Should I fail then I imagine I will receive some warning in the none too distant future that some sort of evidence will appear that paints me as the cause of such an operation should I push too hard about it.'

Seth Brakis was honestly surprised; the Admiral was obviously quite intelligent and had successfully pieced together a fairly accurate idea of what was going on but fortunately for him, he still missing several prominent facts.

'A couple of months ago I was approached by the Colonial Intelligence Agency, they were willing to look the other way with my illicit activities providing I went out of my way to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. They already knew I had an outpost of some sort stationed in this Nebula and wished for me to expand it to be able to dock a Battlestar. They wanted to use the station to launch sorties across the armistice line'.

That drew a shocked reaction of Daniels, 'Those idiots have been sending entire Battlestars across the armistice line!'

'Indeed they have, with the full backing of the higher ups in the Government I might add. Of course only the Commander of the fleet and his second knew everything according to my sources, it was a black operation after all. They supplied me with the materials for this base as long as I agreed to host a Battlestar for their operations every now and then, I even managed to keep the Stations location secret I didn't trust the fleet really, with good reason I might add. I had a 'pilot' board there Battlestar outside of the Nebula and then have him manually input the jump location himself.'

Daniels couldn't quite believe it, he knew the Admiralty and Administration had become slightly bold in regards to the Cylon's but this was insane it was tantamount to directly provoking them but he had to gain more information first before he could make any decisions. 'You have two docks though Mr. Brakis.'

'Your right the fools supplied me with whatever I asked for, all they wanted was their dock completed so I might have exaggerated the amount of materials I might need, those that noticed didn't care as long as I continued to hold up my end of the agreement. Unfortunately something seems to have spooked their last little 'scouting mission' and they pulled out pretty quickly, my regular contacts with them seemed to stop responding too so I assumed they had found what they wanted and had finished with me for the time being. I imagined they might send someone after me to remove the evidence, although I wasn't quite expecting you to actually find this base so quickly,' added Brakis.

'They really seemed to want you gone Mr. Brakis, I was given an unlimited time limit, which is not all that unusual for me they seem to prefer to keep me out of the way. As for your location I simply informed your surviving Commanders I intended to blockade the nebula and impound any ships entering or leaving it, without your three Destroyers there was no way you could still have the firepower to break such a blockade, he seemed to fold pretty quickly after he realised we weren't going anywhere, I understand he has a family on board,' explained Daniels.

'I was relying on the fleets dislike of long term deployments, you are probably the only Battlestar group they keep out on such things,' sighed Brakis.

'Any idea why the last patrol was so, how did you put it 'spooked'?' questioned Daniels.

'Oh yes, you don't know? Now that is surprising they must be sitting on it, probably not wanted to alarm their own people and own up to what they've done. The Cylon's are reported to be increasingly active on their side of the armistice line, a lot of movement and increased Patrols, they even reported seeing a new type of Baseship no more disks apparently more Star shaped.'

'Gods they've gone and poked the hornets' nest,' Exclaimed the Admiral.

Laughter erupted at that from Brakis drawing an incredulous look from Daniels.

'They are supremely confident in their fleet Admiral, shouldn't you be?' Brakis asked with a wry grin.

Frowning Daniels responded 'there's such a thing as being confident and foolhardy, I have no wish to see a second Cylon war in my lifetime.'

Sobering slightly Brakis agreed, 'I'll drink to that, be bad for business after all Cylon's simply try to kill us all, Fleet, Civilians and Pirates are all in the same boat in that regard.'

'Damn' Daniels muttered before continuing, 'what about the Destroyers?'

'Ah Colonial Intelligence wasn't my only source of information in the Military and Government, one of my old friends caught wind of a stockpile of ships they keep around in the event of another war. He only had a general location though and it took a lot of scouting to find those three.'

Daniels sighed the Government really was riddled with self serving bureaucrats he really shouldn't have been surprised that something like that had happened. 'As agreed I'll only arrest the Command staff of the station and those aboard wanted for any crimes in the Colonies, but the Pirate crews already captured will have to charged for piracy. I will also attempt to reduce your sentence once the turmoil of you and your crews being brought in has died down in return for the information.'

'I'm sorry Admiral, It's pretty worthless to you isn't it, you can't exactly take it to anyone both the Admiralty AND the Government are in on it and if you should shout too loudly about it I'm sure you'll find yourself in an accident or might simply disappear despite your fame, those Colonial Intelligence guys can be so ruthless when they need to be,' warned Brakis

Eyeing the Pirate, Daniels could only agree, 'I'm going to have to think long and hard on this Mr. Brakis'

'Seth, you can call me Seth Admiral I believe I owe it to you,' replied Brakis.

Nodding Daniels, stood up and turned to leave before informing him 'The Marine detachments will come aboard in two hours I'll leave it to you to explain it to your people, goodbye for now … Seth'. He then strode through the door.

Interesting man thought Brakis as the door closed behind them.

Daniels was in turmoil as he headed towards his Raptor, the ever silent presence of Sergeant Lias walking slightly behind him with the rest of his Marines. Daniels pushed aside his conflicting thoughts for the moment though, he'd talk to Lisa about it later, for now he had a Station to board and secure before his return to the Colonies'.

* * *

**Battlestar Posideon**

Lisa Edwards could only laugh as she watched Joseph collapse into his seat in his quarters. 'It wasn't that difficult a day you know' she playfully teased,

Daniels could only sigh he hated to break her good cheer. 'It wasn't the day itself more like the information I got out of the Commander'.

Her only response was a raised eyebrow.

'The Government and main Admirals are up to their necks in this, they've been using this place to stage reconnaissance sorties into Cylon territory and it seems we've been sent out here to clear up the evidence'.

'My Gods what were they thinking, we haven't heard anything from them in forty years why would we start provoking them now?'

'My current theory is the Government and Admiralty are working together to provoke a war, Adar's Administration has been steadily losing in the polls ever since the riots over Aerelon. I can only guess Corman and Nagala are in it over the continued public pressure to cut the fleets funding. I'd imagine they jumped on the chance when they presented it to them, the people have considered the fleet little more than a Pirate hunting force in recent years and despite the cuts the Admirals themselves have become more and more aggressive recently. A war would distract the people from the problems at home and boost Adar's position if it goes well. It would also solidifying the need for a strong capable Military, as far as their concerned there's probably very little in downsides,' explained Daniels.

'Gods surely people will realise though?' Edwards asked.

'Unlikely, the Colonies have been becoming increasingly separated recently; there's been a lot of growing tension occurring from within. With the complete disappearance of the Cylon's and the fact no one's heard from them in so long, the Colonies have lost their common enemy and main unifying factor. It seems were slipping back towards the days when the Colonies fought each other, were growing increasingly stagnant with no immediate threat and nothing to unify us against or for, things are ever so slowly slipping away. If a war started they would be too caught up in it to truly consider the reasons it started, they are 'untrustworthy toasters' after all'.

'I've ... I've never really thought about recent troubles like that but what can we do?' she responded almost desperately.

'Nothing' Daniels hissed before softening, 'absolutely nothing, the higher ups in both the Government and Military are involved and if we attempted to go to anyone else like the press I'm quite sure we'd be 'silenced' in some way'.

'We can't do nothing though, surely we can do something or we'll end up in a second Cylon war, what about slowly letting others know, only those we trust and slowly building a group who knows the truth and who can start working against this insanity' she tried.

'It would take time and there no telling if they'll wait that long before doing something even more drastic, but your right best we can do is slowly tell people and observe for the moment.'

Shaking her head Edwards could only chuckle morosely 'where's the drink, frack I need a drink'.

* * *

**7 Days before Cylon Genocide**

CIC was buzzing as Colonial officers went about their duties, the organisation and transfer of prisoners from the Pirate Base had been completed only recently and Sergeant Lias had confirmed that the entire station was under their control a couple of days ago. Now though things had once again picked up as the ship continued its preparation for the immediate return to the Colonies.

Lisa stood watching them, the prisoner transfer had gone relatively smoothly, there had been a few minor incidents but the main reason it had taken so long to secure the station had been the completion of a census of people aboard and scouring of the station for those attempting to hide. Luckily there had been no real violence, they had nowhere to run to after all and thus most had seen sense.

The Poseidon, Ceto and Styx were almost ready to depart; they were taking on the last of the Raptors before heading out towards the edge of the nebula for an FTL jump and the journey back to the Scorpion Ship yards. Joseph had decided to leave the two Patrolstars with Commander Ryan and the Nyx. He had informed her to remain here and guard the station and to scout out the nebula, while awaiting the arrival of the transports for the remaining people on the station. After which the Battlegroup would regroup and then accompany them to the nearest colony as per the agreement with Seth Brakis.

She eyed the station for a final time; she still couldn't quite believe Daniels when he told her the unofficial orders were to destroy the place. If the Government really wanted to engage in a war with the Cylons then it would be the perfect forward command post, the far side of the Nebula actually brushed into their territory after all. She could only assume they were determined to play the injured party of a completely unprovoked attack by the Cylons. Her thoughts ceased though as the Admiral himself made his way into the CIC,

'Are we prepared for our departure?'

'Yes Sir all raptors and Vipers are aboard.'

'Good Lieutenant Hoshi inform Commander Ryan we are departing and we'll see her in two weeks'

'Yes Sir'

Poseidon's Engines glowed blue as they powered up and she broke away from her orbit of Eris Station, the Battlestar Ceto and Destroyer Styx quickly fell into position with her as she powered her way towards the edge of the Nebula. Although not massively dangerous to FTL jump from inside the nebula, it did have a deteriorating effect upon the drives, so Daniels had agreed that it wasn't worth the damage for a relatively short journey to the edge.

Clearing the Nebula close to an hour later the remaining ships of Battestar Group 32 disappeared in flashes of light as their FTL engines activated.

* * *

**1 Day before Cylon Genocide**

Daniels sat in his quarters while a marine guard stood in the corner, escorting his prisoner or was it guest now, he couldn't quite decide which at the moment.

Despite himself he was beginning to like this Pirate, he was dry, sarcastic and never took anything lying down. They had been having regular chats, at first to simply to gain more information on the Operation he was involved in and any other information he could find including what exactly the Battlestars had discovered in there forays. But he had soon found himself appreciating the man; they were even on a first name basis now, and would probably have been friends in other circumstances. They had even moved onto to talking about the purpose of the fleet and just how the colonies still interacted and fought against one another.

'The Articles of Colonisation are all well and good Joseph but they will only work in the current time while there is a credible threat to all of the Colonies, should we defeat the Cylon's or they continue to have no real contact with them the Colonies will continue to drift back towards the way they acted before the war, all completing against one another,' Seth exclaimed.

'I agree to a degree the threat of the Cylon's is what has kept us together, but I think it's also the isolationist stance the Colonies have taken, we know nothing of the surrounding space if we were to start to explore and settle the surrounding areas under a joint government, that itself would supply the common ground for the Colonies to continue to work together, eventually they will become so interdependent on each other starting a war would be unlikely to impossible,' explained Joseph.

'I suppose, I'd have to think on it though. It would be unlikely to gain much support though not in recent years at least, the religious lot has too much sway in the Government currently. They seem strictly isolationist for reasons that escape me; you would think they would be all about reclaiming Kobol and attempting to reunite with the 13th Tribe.'

Daniels snorted at that 'I have never understood the fascination with the 13th and the idea they are our long lost brothers. If they we were so close why did we go different ways, you'd imagine they would have joined with us. No if they do exist I imagine we split up for a very good reason or due to a distinctive rift in beliefs, one that we have forgotten.'

'That does make some sense, well time seems to be up Admiral I have enjoyed are little chats hopefully we'll meet again after I get out of prison',

'Your crews went out of their way not kill people I don't imagine they'll lock you up too long, even with what you know a small warning to be quiet and to fade away would be more there style. Goodbye Seth I'll put a word in with the judge when I discover whoever it will be, good luck'

'Thank you Joseph see you around I suppose, good luck with the Admiralty I'd imagine you'll need it'

With a last grin Brakis left leaving Daniels to worry over the imminent meeting with Admiral Corman tomorrow.

* * *

**2 hours before Cylon Genocide**

Daniels blinked as the last customary distortions of the FTL jump disappeared from his immediate vision,

'Report',

'We are in position roughly two hours outside Scorpia Sir,' reported Tactical, the station was manned by a rather young Lieutenant called Francis Kokes. 'Both Ceto and Styx are still in formation, Admiral' he continued.

'Good Comm send identification to the Scorpion Home Guard and let them know our approach vector, inform them we'll be heading for the Scorpion Ship Yards and ask them to alert Admiral Corman to our arrival.

'Yes Sir' Lieutenant Rachel Hoshi replied.

'Take us in' he ordered,

Flanked by Ceto and Styx, the Poseidon engaged its engines and powered towards the nearby green orb known as Scorpia.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Whew another chapter done, I'm going to need a BETA reader I think so if you're interested just give me a pm ^^. Think I'll aim for a chapter a week probably slip often though who knows will depend on how much I enjoy writing whatever part I'm on.

Bit harder to write this particular chapter compared to the first one, slightly more build-up and background as well as introducing a few new characters. The main event that I'm sure your looking forward to will be happening in the next chapter Zero Hour after all.

As always still looking for feedback, and ways in which to improve don't even mind flames as long as you explain why you didn't like it


	3. Chapter 3: Ere the Storm Rises

**Chapter 3: Ere the Storm Rises**

**Zero Hour**

**Poseidon**

Admiral Daniels closed his eyes in almost physical pain as Admiral Corman's voice spoke up over the Conn; this was going to be downright painful.

'Admiral Daniels, Report your mission status.'

'Mission was successful within its given parameters,' he replied rather diplomatically.

There was silence to that, damn you could almost hear Corman's Explosion coming, Daniels imagined.

'What exactly is that meant to mean Daniels, what is the exact status of your mission.'

'We successfully disabled, captured or destroyed all Pirate owned ships, successfully located and captured their base of Operations and have broken them as a fighting force,' was his reply, there he'd done it here it comes he thought and almost closed his eyes in response.

'There still alive!' the hiss was unmistakable in Corman's voice and Daniels nearly flinched, many in CIC simply blinked in shock at the venom radiating in the voice.

Daniels resolve though hardened at the fact the Admiral was about to explode on an open Conn, berating him in private was one thing but to do so in full view of his crew was unacceptable, his voice hard he replied 'Let me remind you Admiral, you are on an open comm.'

'I don't care!' Corman snapped 'you were given direct instructions from the President and Admiral Nagala! Why have you not carried them out,' the volume of his voice was steadily rising, never a good sign.

'Considering what information I've come across I considered it prudent to wait and discuss my findings with the Admiralty it seems I seem to have missed several reports that I should have received,' he replied his voice never losing the hard edge, most of the CIC seemed to listening to the conversation with disbelief a direct argument amongst the Admiralty in full view of a crew was unheard of.

Daniels actually winced when Admiral Corman's began to shout in response, 'HOW DARE YOU! Who the hell do you think you are Daniels?'

'I was under the impression I am an Admiral in the Colonial Fleet and while I do answer to you, any operation with the level of size and danger that I uncovered was required by LAW to be known to the FULL Admiralty!'

He had expected an unpleasant welcome and a rant about how he should serve and not question but hadn't expected Corman to explode to the level he did in response to his reprimand, the idiot had lost complete control of himself and in front of his crews no less.

His rant in response was hard to make out completely but seemed to be about how he was supposed to follow orders, obey the current Administration without question and something about unacceptable behavior and lack of respect he was showing Corman.

Frowning at the increasingly foul language originating from the other end of his communication line, Daniels was somewhat thankful when Lieutenant Hoshi interrupted Corman's in an attempt to gain his attention.

Deciding the 'esteemed' Admiral had no intention of stopping in the near future and that their conversation had truly gotten off topic he simply decided cut the connection, Corman was being completely unprofessional, he'd give the fool time to calm down. He had no intention of listening to most of the rubbish Corman was sprouting at him and if this was the 'official' policy of the Government and Military mabe it was due time to rethink his commission in the Colonial fleet. It was to general bemusement amongst the rather stunned CIC staff when he turned towards the young officer who had been trying to gain his attention and promptly asked 'Yes? What's the problem Lieutenant Hoshi?'

'Um Sir, the Scorpia Home Guard are reporting that there are five unidentified contacts that just jumped slightly outside of their DRADIS range, there not responding to any of the Guard challenges or transmitting any discernable Colonial Transponders signals.'

How strange, was Daniels first thought, ships were strictly prohibited from making FTL jumps so close to the vicinity of one of the Twelve Colonies, it was considered an unneeded risk during peacetime. Normally vessels were required to arrive at least 30 minutes out from the planet if using their FTL engines and then travel the rest of the way under their sub light drives, the only time this was waivered was when an emergency had been declared. To not respond to hails while in an emergency wasn't all that unusual; something that could cause such a serious problem easily had the potential to also knock out communications. No the most unusual thing about the situation was that the Guard was receiving no Colonial Transponder's from any of the contacts. While it was possible to knock out a ships communications fairly easily, the complete failure of the transponder system on top of such a thing would be nearly impossible, it would require the near destruction of the ship for a transponder to stop working and even then they usually continued to function. All ships had them installed too, even pirate vessels although they quite often attempted to change the original transponder to something different or plain muffle it to not give their position away so easily.

'Are you sure there not receiving ANY signals off the contacts at all?' he attempted to ascertain.

'No Sir, the Guard claimed it's not that unusual though and happens from time to time, they are routing the two of the nearest Patrolstars and one of their Destroyers though to see what the problem is.'

'Well the Guard seems to have it under control, keep an eye on it though Lieutenant'.

Turning back to Con to see if Admiral Corman had calmed down and finished his tirade, he was instead shocked when the Tactical Officer Captain Kokes screamed out, 'DRADIS CONTACTS! Gods they've jumped right on top of us.'

Daniels was about to ask just what the frack was going on before Kokes spoke again this time causing him to pale in fear.

'RADIOLOGICAL ALARM, THEIR LAUNCHING NUKES!' Kokes was frantic and with good reason, they were completely caught off guard and they were in no position to defend against a missile strike especially one launched from so close.

The following explosion rocked CIC causing most of the crew to stagger and others to lose their footing completely as the whole Battlestar reeled from the impact.

The coordinated Jump by the enemy force and subsequent attack caught the Colonial's by complete surprise, creating near panic amongst the tightly packed Colonial Fleet and Civilian shipping. No less than ten large contacts had jumped almost on top of the Scorpion Shipyard and its accompanying Battle Groups.

Captain Kokes was the first to completely regain his footing and he quickly attempted to interpret the disorganised DRADIS display, the new enemy contacts were intermingled heavily with the Colonial fleet ships around the Shipyard making it difficult to pick out friend from apparent foe, the five unidentified contacts meanwhile had picked up speed and were heading directly for the Planet.

'The new DRADIS contacts are huge Sir, Battlestar size at least no transponders either, there launching more nukes and numerous fighters, no positive ID in the war book but they look like Cylon's,' he reported to a still mostly stunned CIC.

Daniels barely had time to get to the DRAIDS display before more nukes impacted amongst the fleet, the nearest target this time seemed to be Corman's flagship Artemis. The ship stood very little chance as three of the contacts seemed to have surrounded it and what he could only assume were Cylon Baseships had launched multiple nukes directly at the ship. The defenceless Battlestar simply seemed to disappear in a flash of multiple nuclear detonations, as it was ripped apart, leaving precious little left of the once mighty fleet flagship.

'THE ARTEMIS HAS BEEN DESTROYED' cried tactical still mostly in a state of shock himself, acting near automatically he continued to feed information to the Admiral as he tried to understand the situation, 'Confirmed Cylon Baseships, defiantly the new design the pirates mentioned, their continuing to launch Raiders by the hundreds!'

Daniels forced himself to think before issuing immediate orders 'Set Condition 1 throughout the ship, Launch all Vipers and prepare the ship for immediate engagement, move us away from the nearest Baseship we can't engage it this close without our Viper's in the air'.

* * *

The Colonial Forces meanwhile recoiled under the surprise attack, with Admiral Corman killed in the opening seconds and Admiral Cain out of contact, the local Commanders didn't know how to respond. Their indecision cost them dearly as the Cylon Baseships continued to use Nuclear and Conventional missiles to great success against the totally unprepared Colonials.

The Home Guard took the brunt of the losses in immediate assault, 3 Patrolstars and 2 Destroyers were taken by complete surprise and destroyed before they even got a shot off. Cormans Battlestar Group 13 also found itself under a vicious assault that halved its total strength within the first 30 seconds. First losing the Battlestar Artemis along with their Admiral, this was quickly followed soon after by the Clytie a Valkyrie class Battlestar. Trapped within the shipyard, with no immediate room to maneuver it had the unfortunate position of being the nearest docked Battlestar to the newly arrived Cylon's and never stood a chance.

The Colonials attempted to respond, launching Vipers and attempting to clear their immediate area around the ships as countless Raiders and missiles swarmed around them. As soon as they began to regain a modicum of control in the situation though, they found themselves under attack in yet another different way. The recently installed Command Navigation Program or CNP, was designed to improve efficiency amongst the way ships navigated space instead it had become the Cylon's ultimate weapon, literally riddled with Backdoors and faulty programming, it allowed almost free access to the heavily networked Colonial Computers. The Cylon's quickly found the most efficient way of causing yet more chaos was to simply cut the power of the ships and installations not only ceasing their resistance to the Cylon attack but allowing them to be destroyed easily.

* * *

**Poseidon **

The Poseidon and its escorts could only watch in horror as the Colonial ships nearest the Cylon's simply shut down, their guns falling silent just as they had begin to fire and whole Viper squadrons suddenly finding themselves drifting amongst the literal sea's of Cylon Raiders.

Admiral Daniels attention though was quickly diverted to a similar problem with his own ship.

'INTRUSION ATTEMPT' screamed his ship ECO,

'Report' Edwards quickly took charge; she knew they were as good as dead if the Cylon's gained access to the ship during this mess.

'They attempted to gain access through the Navigational Computer Sir, the firewalls are keeping them out for now but they won't hold for long if they keep at it at the same rate,' the ECO explained.

'Keep an eye on it, if it looks like there about to breach the firewall disconnect the affected parts from the other Systems,' Daniels interrupted after taking stock of the situation with the fleet.

The entirety of the Scorpion Shipyard and most of the supporting Battle Groups seemed to have simply lost power and were being completely swarmed by Raiders; they were subsequently also taking the most of the initial Cylon missile fire. There was simply nothing he could do with that situation, if he stayed and fought with the shipyard all he'd achieve would be a defiant but unsuccessful last stand. He had to save what he could and put up as much resistance as possible with what little they had left until hopefully reinforced. Luckily most of the Guard was still fighting and Ceto and Styx still seemed to be fully operational.

'Hoshi have Ceto and Styx take up positions on each flank we need to clear ourselves some room' he ordered as the ship rocked again from another missile strike, 'Tactical what's the situation with the fleet?'

'The Shipyard is taking a pounding Sir, they're not even defending themselves, there's no way any of the docked ship are going to be able to get free under all those Raiders!'

'The damned Toasters have just switched everything else off like a fracking light bulb' Lisa exclaimed.

Eyeing the DRADIS display Daniels quietly said 'Continue to pull us away from the Shipyard fall back to Battle Group 39 and Corman's two remaining Destroyers, we'll attempt to cover them from those Baseships breaking away from the Shipyard. There far enough away from the Shipyard that we should be able to at least hold for awhile, with any luck they can get their ships working again.'

'Launch all our Raptors and start recovering their Viper's the pilot's won't be able to get them working again while in space,' he went on to say.

'That would leave the Scorpion Shipyard un-defended though Joseph,' Lisa said in a quiet tone.

'We have no choice, look at them all there swarming over the Shipyard like ants, combined with all those Baseship's we wouldn't last 5 minutes in there. We have TWO operational Battlestars and a single Destroyer to hold off nearly Ten Baseships, we can't even call on the Home Guard forces to help us there needed to hold off the other Five Baseships heading for the planet. The best we can do, is attempt to cover the other Battle Group and the remains of Cormans command, we can at least hold that position with a chance of survival or escape.'

Turning his attention to the other five Baseships, he watched as they continued to brush aside the remains of the Guard with near contemptuous ease, they were heading directly towards the planet. Why though, shouldn't they also be attacking his position, it was the only one with any strength left in the immediate area. Surely they should be trying to wipe out the fleet first before moving into orbit to invade Scorpia. He could only observe as yet another of the Patrolstars winked out indicating its destruction, they were good ships but were designed to police trade lanes and engage pirates not stand up against ships the size of Battlestars, especially without the support of the Defence grid.

His confusion turned to horror though as the nearest Baseship reached orbit and immediately began to launch nuclear missiles not at the remaining space forces or orbital satellites but at the planet itself, the machines were nuking the planet!

'GET ME SCORPIA'S GOVERNMER NOW!' he roared at Hoshi before glancing at the DRADIS and turning to Edwards. 'Load Nuclear missiles and target the nearest Baseship there breaking off from the assault on the shipyard and following us, we need to buy some breathing room to regroup, let Commander Belter know he is free to use Nuclear missiles advise him to also target his nearest Baseship.'

'Sir I have Scopria's Governor' Hoshi interrupted.

'Good, Governor Rumos, this is Admiral Daniels on the Poseidon, as an Admiral of the Colonial fleet I am using my authority to authorize a full evacuation of Scorpia, you are to load as many people into FTL capable ships as you can and then launch them.'

'Are you Insane?! No Colony has ever undergone an evacuation order before' came the disbelieving voice from the Governor.

'Our position is untenable, most of our forces have been disabled and my Battle Group cannot hold off such a large force on its own, the Defence Grid is offline and the Guard has been reduced to a fraction of its original size, 5 Baseships are already in or approaching high orbit of Scorpia and they have almost completely uncontested control of High orbit. They have already beginning preliminary bombardment of the planet with nuclear weapons not just on military targets but on the civilian cities as well and we are in no position to stop it! If we attempt to evacuate now we can at least save some!' he explained.

'What! What about reinforcements, where is the rest of the fleet!?' demanded the Governor.

'Long range communications seem to be jammed we have spent out distress calls but have received no response so far, we have no idea how the rest of the Colonies are faring but it is most likely they are also under attack themselves. I can only assume from this that we will have no immediate reinforcements within the time we have remaining. I will attempt to hold for as long as possible to give the Cylon's a target that isn't the civilian ships but I WILL be forced to withdraw, Now get as many as you can into ships and tell them to jump to the fallback co-ordinates we will relay to you,' replied the exasperated Admiral.

'You better be right about this, I'll make damn sure it's on your head Admiral,' the Governor nervously responded.

Daniels simply cut the connection with a snarl, FOOL he thought the man cared more for his position that his people.

'Kokes plot a fallback position in between the Colonies of Scorpia and Leonis we'll use it as a regroup point and gathering area for Civilian traffic, then relay the co-ordinates to Civilians and the rest of the fleet.'

Turning towards Hoshi he quickly relayed new orders, 'Conn tell the disabled ships that their main priority is to get their FTL engines working again and then to retreat back to the designated position,' he tried to continue but was cut off as the Ship shook violently again. Cursing he shouted out 'Are we ready for a nuclear missile strike yet? We need that damned room!'

'Yes Sir, missile section reports there loaded and ready,' Edwards replied.

'Launch!'

* * *

Twin nuclear detonations signaled the Colonials continued defiance and death knell of two of the Cylon Baseships. The scarred remainder of Battlestar Group 32 continued to move away from the Shipyard and retreat back towards the remaining handful of disabled Colonial ships.

The Battle over Scorpia itself though seemed to go even worse for the Colonial Fleet. The shipyard itself was a mess, stricken and dying Battlestar's lay everywhere within it as Admiral Corman and Cain's commands died in nuclear fire, trapped within their docks as they underwent repair they were left with no escape. No one noticed Pegasus's emergency blind jump before the nuclear missiles hit on its previous position. The Cylon's had not been tracking the missiles believing the ship disabled like the others and so along with the besieged Admiral Daniels they simply put it down as a kill or as a another Battlestar lost respectively. The Scorpia Home Guard meanwhile was fairing only slightly better in its battle but only due to the fact that its ships were still operational, their main problem which they soon discovered was that they were hopelessly outclassed when compared to the Cylon's. Their vessels had originally been destined for the scrap yard but had been hastily re-commissioned to act as a small anti-piracy force for the Colonies in the event the Fleet was already engaged. Against modern day Baseships those old ships, while safe from Cylon electronic warfare, stood very little chance in a straight fight especially without the support of the local Defence Platforms.

The five Cylon's Baseships meanwhile seemed content to simply beat back those forces as they took up strategic positions above Scorpia, seemingly ignoring the Civilian Traffic desperately attempting to escape the coming genocide. The terrified Civilians could only watch as the Baseships threw missile after missile at the planet itself!

Commander Sarris aboard the last remaining operational Guard Destroyer Ino had served aboard the same ship for close to 50 years, starting as a young pilot in its limited air wing and eventually rising to become its Commander. He had heard the general evacuation order and had watched helplessly as the Baseship's further away had begun to nuke his home. He had personally taken up position above the capital city of Scorpia, Lethe and had stood his ground as one of the Baseship's closed in on his ship in an obvious attempt to get past and nuke the strategically important city. He had refused to yield the position to them though knowing to do so would spell death to millions of people below. The Ino, dated all way back to the first Cylon War, were it had served with distinction alongside those first great Battlestar's such as the Galactica and Columbia. Heavily damaged early on in the fight by a couple of suicidal raiders she had bravely managed to hold off the Baseship and prevent it launching for nearly five minutes. Although a fine ship the Commander of the Ino knew he was doomed the minute he had begun this duel with the Baseship but he stubbornly refused retreat knowing for every second he held this position he saved yet more lives on the planet and hopefully his wife and twin sons.

His Destroyer though was simply not equipped to go toe to toe with a capital ship of a Baseship's Size especially when heavily damaged. Six minutes into his last stand a lucky missile, hit his Starboard Armory tearing a huge hole in the side of his ship as the ammunition their cooked off, throwing him and everyone else to the ground.

Eyeing the sheer damage his ship had taken Commander Sarris had calmly and clearly ordered the Ship to ramming speed and then promptly told to crew to evacuate. The CIC staff to a man refused to leave and stood at their posts as the Ino surged towards the Baseship.

The Cylon's realised too late what the Destroyer's plan was and had nowhere to go as the Ino crashed into the Baseship destroying both. Massive secondary explosions rippled through the two ships as the remaining ordnance was set off by the impact and following fires.

With the Remaining Defence force over Scorpia reduced to just a single Patrolstar's, the Cylon's continued their assault unimpeded. The remaining Patrolstar meanwhile realising it could no longer do anything but die uselessly, broke off and began moving towards the Poseidon and her Battle Group in the hope that it would be able to do more good there. It left the Cylon's with almost free reign in their bombardment of the planet but the Ino's sacrifice was not in vain giving the desperate inhabitants of Lethe a precious 20 extra minutes to evacuate, allowing seven more ships to escape from its main spaceport.

* * *

**Poseidon**

Daniels watched the Ino's final charge in admiration as she successfully destroyed the Baseship and bought the planet valuable time. The immediate battle nearby had taken a turn for the worse though, they had given themselves some breathing room initially with the destruction of the two nearest Baseship's but the Cylon's had quickly responded realising they were the main remaining threat and most of them had broken away from the Shipyard and begun moving towards his position. His Viper squadrons were horrendously outnumbered and his Raptors were all engaged in attempts to recover the countless disabled Vipers that were being mopped up by the enemy.

The Shipyard itself looked like a floating ruin and had taken horrendous damage; the five docked Battlestars seemed to be little more than scrap now, six of the Baseships had broken away from it and were already beginning to engage his Battle Group while the other two continued to pound it into dust. Luckily despite the nuke they'd taken early on and the missile hits throughout the battle the damage to Poseidon itself had been relatively light; and the Cylon's approaching were being successfully held off for the moment, they didn't seem to want to move too close to either operational Battlestar. They were quite content to sit at range and overwhelm them with Raiders and Missiles, he couldn't exactly retreat without leaving the countless ships behind him to die and attempting to approach closer to the Baseships would be suicide.

'Have the remaining Home Guard Vipers follow the Patrolstar and reinforce our position, there's nothing more that they can do on their own at least here they would do some good,' ordered Daniels.

The Battlestar's Poseidon and Ceto continued to exchange fire with the remaining Baseships as their Viper's attempted to keep the Raiders away from the disabled fleet vessels but they were slowly being forced to give ground as they moved towards the drifting Battlestar Group 39.

'Damn it move us in position over the Solaria, have Ceto do the same to the Columbia we can't let them through so easily, those Battlestars and Destroyers can't take much damage while powerless', Daniels demanded.

'SIR the Triton's been hit!' Tactical reported.

Daniels cursed, the Triton was indeed listing to the side the nuke had severely damaged the ship and even crippled a nearby Destroyer he could already see Raptors begging to abandon both struggling vessels.

'Ignore it, have Styx move back towards us and tighten our engagement circle, Triton and her escort Destroyer are crippled, there's nothing we can do for her now.'

'Launch nukes in between us and the Baseships we won't be able to hit them directly but it'll force them to stop advancing and clear out some of those Raiders, have the Vipers break off and fall back to our position.' He continued on.

'Sir, the Battle Group 13, Destroyer Aceso has gotten there FTL working and has jumped to the fallback point.'

'Good, launch our missile strike!' ordered Daniels if they could hold on just a little longer.

* * *

**Cylon Baseship**

Cavil eyed the display in disgust; he had personally decided to lead the Cylon force attacking Scorpia believing the Shipyard and the presence of a large part of the Colonial fleet would require his personal supervision.

The initial attack had been a tremendous success catching the Colonials by complete surprise, and the CNP … well it couldn't have worked better, it had near completely crippled there forces. The Shipyard and its docked Battlestars had fallen easily; they had even managed to kill Admiral Corman and the Artemis in the initial attack. The attack on Scorpia itself had been just as effective the CNP shutting down all the orbital defences and the Baseship's had promptly overrun the pathetic Scorpion Guard with little trouble.

He knew it had been going too well though, the Humans were always stubborn and true to form they had managed to rally somewhat after the initial attack and devastation, it seemed his Virus had failed to disable the Poseidon and its escorts, how one of the flagships of the Colonial fleet had been overlooked was a major oversight and would require serious attention but for now he had to deal with that blasted ship.

He had been surprised at the pragmatism of the Admiral in charge, instead of wasting his ships on some foolish stand over the Shipyard's like most of the Admiralty would have done ,he had instead abandoned it and fallen back to regroup. He had been even more surprised when he'd ordered the Evacuation of Scorpia after the first nuclear strike; he hadn't believed one of them would catch on so quickly to his intentions. It was a mistake he realised not to wait until all the Baseship's had been in position above Scorpia before launching they had given the game away and it had allowed countless Civilians to escape.

He had ordered to the two nearest Baseship's to attempt to overrun the Poseidon before they could regroup properly but the damned Human had promptly nuked both nearby Baseship's and successfully retreated towards one of the other disabled Battlestar Groups … 39 he thought it was. Corman's two Destroyers were also in that area and the Poseidon and Ceto and their escort Destroyer had promptly fought him every inch of the way there and had then parked themselves between his remaining six Baseships and the disabled ships and were successfully holding them off.

They had managed to take down the Triton and one of the Destroyers but if this kept up the others would successfully escape; already one of the previously disabled Destroyers had fled. He didn't care about the countless civilian ships that had run, they were of little consequence without military support and it would be easy to hunt them down. The Poseidon though could not be allowed to get away, especially if it managed to save the remainder of Battle Groups 13 and 39.

'Call in our reinforcements' He demanded of a Five, 'we need to overrun the Colonials before they can get away or we'll be forced to hunt them down later. Have our Agent act we'll destroy them while he causes chaos within their CIC!' Grinning he settled back into his chair, how would the Admiral respond to this one he thought, that is if he survived.

* * *

**Poseidon**

Sergeant Lias had watched the events unfold within CIC with an air of resigned frustration; there was nothing he could do as the situation became worse and worse. The Admiral was doing his best but he seemed to be massively outnumbered and had no realistic hope of reinforcements. If that wasn't enough he had been forced to make a stand in a fixed point defending the other disabled ships.

He frowned though when he noticed his counterpart private Adams hand began to move down towards his sidearm, he tensed had Adams seen something he hadn't? Watching him though it became apparent that wasn't the case, in fact he was staring straight at the Admiral and wasn't even blinking. Adams was strange, he was relatively new to Poseidon with sandy colored hair and blue eyes he seemed to be fairly religious too although it didn't seem to be to the Lords of Kobol, he regularly sprouted sayings and weird quotes when you tried to talk to him and seemed to stick to himself a lot, his record though was spotless and Lias had no complaints with his conduct before now.

He watched in disbelief though as Adams unclipped his sidearm and began to lift it towards the Admiral, Lias though found he was already moving as it rose, smashing into Adams he forced the initial shot wide off the mark before they both collided with the floor. He turned to restrain him only to find himself hurled through the air by Adams like a Rag Doll; he smashed into the wall feeling several of his bones break upon impact and immense pain before he surrendered to peaceful darkness.

* * *

Daniels whirled after the retort of a gunshot just in time to see one of his Marine Guards hurl his Sergeant at Arms across the room like he weighed absolutely nothing, 'Impossible' he breathed Lias was no lightweight a good 150 pounds, wide eyed he watched as the same marine guard snapped the neck of another Marine who attempted to stop him before recovering his weapon at blinding speed and bringing it to bear on his head.

Successive barks of a gun was the only sound that occurred next to deafening silence in CIC as they watched series of bullets smash into the marines head before he collapsed backwards.

Spinning to the side, Daniels was treated to the sight of his long term friend Commander Edwards with her face set in a mask of fury and her sidearm in her hands, lowering it slightly but continuing to scan the CIC for more threats, she promptly screamed 'MARINES SECURE THE CIC'.

Daniels was given no time to come to terms with what had just happened though as the ship shook from a massive impact, throwing him to the ground, picking himself off the floor he demanded 'What the hell hit us'.

'Five new contacts Sir, more Cylon's they're right on top of us and launched a nukes straight at us, the gun crews and Vipers intercepted most of them though' Kokes informed him.

'Ceto's also taken several direct hit she's near crippled Joseph' Commander Edwards spoke up, surprising Daniels who hadn't realised she'd moved back to the DRADIS.

Picking up the Conn Daniels spoke up 'Commander Belter what's your status'

'This is his XO Colonel Restor Sir, the Commander took a blow to the head in the strike and he was knocked unconscious, the ships in bad shape they've pretty much crippled us Sir, we can't stay'

'Do you still have FTL?' Daniels asked.

'Yes sir we do' was the prompt response.

'Retreat to our fallback Co-ordinates then, we'll see you there'.

'Sir'

'Ceto has jumped Sir,' Tactical informed him, before continuing on in a surprised voice 'RADIOLOGICAL ALRAM, there launching at the Columbia Sir,'

'Damn they've realised she's wide open, have the nearby Vipers and the Patrolstar Tassi attempt to intercept everyone else is too far away to help,' responded Daniels.

'Damn' Daniels muttered as the Columbia took several direct hits before its transponder stopped working.

'Columbia's gone sir' Kokes confirmed a second later.

'Damn it, Ask the remaining Commanders how much longer it'll take to get their FTL working we can't stay here taking this kind of pounding much longer, there's close to ten Baseships' he ordered as the Poseidon shook again from yet more missile impacts.

'Sir Destroyers Paeon and Abas report they've fixed their engines' Edwards spoke up.

'Tell them to jump, with them out of the way we can enlarge our firing zone and fall back slightly'

'Both Ships are away Sir' Tactical reported.

'Sir, Styx is requesting to withdraw Commander Mula says his ship won't survive another hit!' Conn informed him.

'FRACK have him withdraw and pull us back again, Stop sending the Raptors out and start recalling all available Vipers were going to take as many as we can fit in before we withdraw.' Daniels knew that this was it, without any support staying would simply get his crew killed he'd bought Solaria as much time as he could but if he didn't leave soon he wouldn't have a ship to keep fighting in. 'Tell the Solaria they've got two minutes before we jump we can't stay any longer. Fire our remaining nukes at the nearest Baseship mabe it will get the others to back off a bit.'

Poseidon stood her ground defiantly directly over the top of the stricken Solaria as she attempted to restore her FTL, a stream of missiles shot out from her launchers towards the nearest Baseship which found itself simply too close after its recent jump to intercept them with Raiders. They successfully impacted on its central axis cutting the ship spectacularly in half. The crew aboard the Solaria could only watch in despair though as the final Patrolstar Tassi also retreated from the Frey while the Poseidon was forced further and further backwards.

'NEW CONTACTS!' Tactical shouted out as Daniels staggered from yet another hit, Daniels simply closed his eyes in despair when he heard it.

'Prepare for immediate Jump' He began before being interrupted.

'Receiving, Colonial Transponders! It's Battlestar Group 23 Sir under command of Commander Agne'.

'Cancel my last order, Get her on the line Hoshi' Daniels demanded.

'This is Admiral Daniels to Commander Agne'

'This is her, Sir.'

'We've been overrun and we can't hold Commander, the Cylon's shut most of our ships down instantly and I can only assume yours will have the same problems we are sending you our fallback co-ordinates, confirm.'

'WHAT! You're just going to leave Scorpia to the nuclear mercy of the damned toasters! YOU FRACKING COWARD! NO WAY!' she responded.

'COMMANDER, your ships are compromised if you engage the Cylon you WILL be disabled and destroyed I am giving you a direct order to fallback CONFRIM THE ORDER.'

'She's cut the line and is ignoring us Sir,' Commander Edwards responded in near whisper.

'There accelerating moving towards the Baseship's over the planet' tactical announced.

'DAMNIT we need those ships get me a line to all ships in that Battle Group Lieutenant' Daniels demanded.

'You have it Sir'

'This is Admiral Daniels aboard the Poseidon, your commanding officer has refused a direct order to retreat we have reason to believe your ships are compromised and should you engage the Cylon's directly you will be disabled and destroyed. My own position is untenable and I am withdrawing, I am giving all ships a direct order to fall back to our regroup co-ordinates, all ships CONFIRM'. He ordered before slamming the Conn down, 'Well?' he asked.

'Only the Battlestar Vigilant and Destroyer Nino are confirming Sir, there pulling back away from the Planet and spinning up their FTL engines, the Morpheus, Ithaca and the Destroyer Bias are still moving forward and are ignoring us'.

'Solaria reports her FTL is working again and their spooling up and jumping sir' Tactical sounded up, 'she's gone' he added seconds later.

'Good call back all our Vipers authorize combat landings, start spooling our FTL,' Daniels replied.

'The ships engaging the Cylon's over Scorpia are shutting down just like the others; they've been infiltrated as well!' exclaimed Lisa.

Daniels grimaced he'd hoped they might have got lucky and it was only the ships around Scorpia that could be shut down so quickly but it wasn't to be, with only a single damaged Battlestar there was little he could do for them.

'Vigilant and Nino have jumped, All Vipers aboard' Tactical announced.

'Advise all remaining Civilian Traffic were leaving and there to jump immediately if able, then jump us away.'

Cavil could only ROAR in frustration as Poseidon and the remaining military assets that had not engaged his Baseships disappeared in the customary wink of FTL travel, they had escaped BLAST THEM!

* * *

**Author's Note**

Quite a hard chapter to write, not quite sure i've done the whole battle scene properly i'll leave it up to you decide,

Still looking for a BETA reader if anyone is interested?

As always Feedback is much apprieciated

Thanks for pointing out the spelling mistakes Wauzi think i fixed them all :)

Published March 25, 2010;


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